


The One Where Joey Depressed A Dog

by GeckoGirl89



Category: Friends (TV)
Genre: Animal Companionship - Freeform, Community: comment_fic, Depression, Dogs, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Episode: s08e15 The One With The Birthing Video, F/M, Guilt, Heavy Angst, Introspection, Joey POV, Loneliness, Minor Dog Character, Pets, Pining, Sad Ending, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-10
Updated: 2017-01-10
Packaged: 2018-09-16 12:57:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9272765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GeckoGirl89/pseuds/GeckoGirl89
Summary: "Oh Joey, you bummed him out! This was the happiest dog in the world, and he spends half a day with you, and look at him!" (Phoebe Buffay, TOW The Birthing Video)





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written for this prompt on comment-fic: Any fandom with a dog, Dog+Any, Fetch (http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/753438.html?thread=99308318#t99308318)
> 
> In keeping with the prompt, I focused a lot on Joey's interactions with the dog in that episode. This is basically a more introspective take on what we saw Joey going through on screen. I included some bits that are available on the DVD version of this episode but didn't air originally (the meatball thing).

Joey didn't mean to break the cheerful dog, but his depression over Rachel impacted Mozzarella in a way he hadn't anticipated.  
  
It all started when Rachel went in briefly to the coffeehouse for a cup of coffee while he was hanging out with Phoebe. Joey asked her how it was living with Ross and was glad to hear that things were going well for her. But apparently Ross put on boring documentaries all the time. If he had the chance to live with Rachel, Joey would do anything to make her happy, to make her comfortable staying with him forever. Joey hoped Ross knew how lucky he was.  
  
Joey didn't feel like this when Chandler moved in with Monica. He had been sad and wistful, of course. Chandler was his best friend, and Joey never liked it when things changed. But he was also happy for Monica and Chandler, underneath it all, and he adjusted to the idea of Chandler moving out once he considered getting a hot female roommate.  
  
This isn't like that at all. Joey had grown so comfortable living with Rachel, and ever since he recognized his feelings for her, he found new sources of joy that were not tainted by the remorse and pain that accompanied them. If Rachel could love Joey back and they could be together, he would be in heaven.  
  
When Rachel had left Central Perk, Joey had turned to watch her leave, wishing that he could be her to-go cup. At least it got to go with Rachel. He missed her like crazy, and the moments they spent together felt all too brief and short. Joey remembered being unhappy about the idea of spending less time with Chandler when he moved out, but the time they regularly spent together as friends eventually became enough for him. Joey didn't feel the stabbing pain in his gut when he saw Chandler after he moved out, and he never drank something expired because he missed Chandler so much. That must be the difference between loving someone as a friend and being hopelessly in love with them.  
  
Phoebe had expressed her sympathies to him. Joey also wished he could get over Rachel, but that was looking less and less likely by the day. Gunther came by, and she ordered a scone from him. When Gunther asked him what he wanted, Joey let out everything he felt in a heartbroken fit of longing before agreeing to try one of their red bagels.  
  
Later, that day, Phoebe stopped by his apartment (how he hated saying that, it should be his and Rachel's apartment) with her friend Wendy's dog. She told him that this dog would be a "real live furry playmate" who would cheer him up because he was "the happiest dog in the world." For a while, Joey felt uplifted. The dog was sweet and playful, and true to Phoebe's description, he constantly wagged his tail and always seemed to be smiling. The dog's fur was soft and soothing to pet, and his light coloring inspired Joey to name him Mozzarella.  
  
Joey played fetch with the dog, who bounced giddily after his tennis ball. He even ran when Joey pretended to throw it. When he came back with an identical ball, Joey felt confused since he didn't remember having that in his apartment.   
  
Joey stood up and smiled hesitantly when Rachel entered the apartment with some of his clothes that she had accidentally packed when she moved out. She immediately noticed the cute dog and kneeled down to pet him. She started talking to the dog in this adorable high-pitched baby talk voice, and Joey's heart melted. She was so wonderful, and Joey only fell a little more in love with her. When she left, Joey sat down in front of the recliner and called Mozzarella over to him. He told the dog the one thing he hadn't been able to tell any of his friends, that he loved Rachel. He stroked Mozzarella's soft fur and poured his heart out to him. Even though Mozzarella wouldn't understand what he was saying, it felt like such a relief just to be able to say it. He knew it was wrong to be in love with Rachel, but a dog wouldn't judge him.

Now, they are lying in the recliner together as Joey laments his hopeless situation.  
  
"So, between her and me being friends, and her history with Ross, it just isn’t going to happen," Joey explains. "It would be like you falling in love with a cat."  
  
Phoebe enters in a good mood, but it quickly disappears when she sees how Mozzarella doesn't move when she leans down to pet him. In his own misery, Joey hadn't even noticed how subdued Mozzarella became, thanks to him.  
  
"He’s miserable! What happened to him?" Phoebe asks.  
  
Joey guiltily admits that he talked to the dog about Rachel. He couldn't help it. He needed to tell someone how he felt after seeing her again.  
  
"Oh Joey, you bummed him out! This was the happiest dog in the world, and he spends half a day with you, and look at him!"  
  
Joey does, and he notices that Mozzarella is gazing at them with doleful eyes.  
  
Joey frowns. "He's breathing!"  
  
Phoebe tells him to act happy because the dog is looking at them, and he tries his best. When that doesn't work, Phoebe says she's going to take the dog back to her friend, but Joey is determined to prove that the dog is fine. He tries to get Mozzarella to play fetch with the tennis ball, which the dog loved earlier, and Mozzarella barely shifts his eyes. Joey then tosses a meatball for him, but the dog barely lifts his chin.  
  
Poor Mozzarella is now another victim of his wrong, inappropriate feelings for Rachel. Joey goes over to the despondent animal and frantically pets him. "My God, what have I done to you, huh? I broke the dog! Pheebs, I broke the dog!"


End file.
